Crimson Wars
by Forsaken and Darklost
Summary: After a mission gone wrong, Hinata had gone missing...but she then she returned. Now she has become something the Elemental Nation has never faced and she brings a darkness that will overshadow all, bringing a war to bathe the world in blood.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or material from Necroscope. Naruto is the rightful property of Shonen Jump and the Necroscope material belongs to Brian Lumley.

A/N: This was an idea I could not get out of my head until I finally decided to write it out. It kept pestering me to do it and wouldn't let me focus on anything else. So we'll see how it goes and how you, the readers, react. To warn everyone, this is going to be a very dark and gory fanfiction. Anyone with a squeamish heart and do not condone heavy violence then stop reading now and find something more to your liking. That didn't scare you off? Good! Then let's begin…

**xXx**

**Chapter 1**

It was just a simple escort mission. Hinata and her teammates were spent to protect a merchant caravan until it reached the edge of Fire Country to Wind Country, where they would have handed over protection of the caravan to their allies in Suna. But after a few miles out just near Suna, they were attacked. And by the skills they showed they were shinobi; most likely missing-nin as one bandit wore a headband with a slash mark over his village symbol: Rock. They attacked like desperate men. From their actions and speed, they hadn't eaten in days or have been on the run too long to rest, but they came at them with everything.

Her teammates managed to hold off most of them, but a few still got passed to the caravan and tried to grab some of the merchandise, but she got to them before they succeeded. Then the one shinobi who wore his slashed headband publically attacked. That was when everything became chaotic. He proved to be above Jonin-level in skill, having been able to push past both Kiba and Shino easily, rocketing straight to the caravan. Hinata tried to stop him, managing to slow him up until her teammates recovered and joined her.

In pure rage and desperation, the missing-nin realized he couldn't best them together, so he used a jutsu that caused a massive earthquake. The ground had split right underneath the spot Hinata was standing and she fell into the gaping darkness…that was the last anyone saw of her…

Until she returned and that day changed the face of the shinobi world…

**xXx**

She woke up

She didn't know anything else other than that, because she became aware of the pain in her body, and that she was lying on something very hard. Everything was abstracted by the pitch black darkness all around her. When she tried to get up, she cried out as searing pain ram through her left arm. Using some of the medical jutsus she learned, she diagnosed that she had shattered her left arm; probably due to the fall and landing on her side on solid rock. She knew it was solid rock because the faint glow of her healing chakra illuminated the cavern she had fallen into.

Once she finished examining, she healed as much as she could to save the arm, but if she didn't get to a proper medic to heal it, she may end up losing the use of it. She quickly took both a blood and soldier pill to replace the chakra she used up in the fight and healing her arm, and to replace the blood that she lost from the injury, and then she ripped off the sleeve of her jacket and stripped some more to make a make-shift sling for her left arm. When she felt strong enough, she summoned the healing chakra again to light her surroundings and found a pathway that could possibly be a tunnel leading out of this dark place.

Her body protested to getting up but she forced it to move and stood up and headed for the tunnel. She soon started wishing she packed a flashlight, at the very least have something to burn to light her way better. The faint glow of her chakra barely lit enough for her to see, and she couldn't keep up the chakra for long; it took too much focus to keep this faint glow going. As it was, with the faint glow, she felt her way more than saw where she was going. This forced her to move at a slow pass, never being sure the next inch of stone would reveal a cliff or a gaping hole, and she could fall to her death for sure with the state she was in now. It was a miracle she survived the fall at all, let alone only injuring her arm. Kami seemed to like her to let her live after the ordeal, she only prayed now that her teammates were all right and got away safely.

As long as the two of them stayed together, they would be fine, and if she could get out of this cave, she could use her Byakugan to locate them, or start making her way back to Konoha and wait for them to return. Either way, she needed to first get out and back up on the surface.

It seemed like hours to her during her slow trek. The tunnel dipped and curved in all different directions, but it gave no hint of an exit. For all she knew, she could be moving deeper and deeper underground. There was really no way for her to tell, because the floor could be descending at a very slight angle, or she could be moving under a mountain; as there was one not too far from where the caravan was attacked.

She berated herself for letting all this happen. She should have had her Byakugan on the whole time, yet she had allowed herself to be distracted by one of the wives of the merchants. The old woman had intrigued her with a legend about the mountain they were crossing by. A tale about a hidden paradise where life grew where there was no light. It was supposed by many that it was a secret garden of Kami or some forgotten god, and whoever managed to find the garden and eat the fruit that grew there would be blessed with eternal life and power.

The latter part was what intrigued Hinata the most. If there was such a place than maybe she could become strong enough to confront the man of her dreams, her secret admirer from her time in the Academy: Uzumaki Naruto. She heard a rumor that Naruto was soon returning from his training mission with the Toad Sannin, and that he should be back very soon. Now she giggled at herself in stupidity. She had spent hours in front of her mirror trying to find the best way to welcome him back and tell him her feelings, and now she may never get the chance if she couldn't get out of this blasted tunnel.

More time went by and she fussed about missing his return, never getting the chance to confess, never get a chance to find out if he 'll accept her feelings, or tell her he was still interested in his pink-haired teammate: Sakura. But if he did accept…The thought made her squeal, even in her predicament. It helped encourage her to go on and continue down this seemingly endless tunnel, but as she thought that she turned another curve and her squinting eyes caught sight of a faint light at the end of the darkness. Exhilarated, she picked up her pace and headed for that light; thankful she finally found an exit. Her pace became faster until she was practically running, but as she reached the exit, she stumbled to a halt.

What she thought was an exit to the surface was in fact an entrance to a huge cavern; far bigger than the one she had fallen down into. The light she had seen had come from, what she guessed, was some kind of glowing moss covering the cavern walls. Her excitement died. There wasn't another tunnel or even a gap in the stalagmite ceiling to reveal another path. But what she did realize was that the cavern she had stumbled upon was home to a black swamp. The ground was covered by every inch of blacken plants and murky ponds and littered all around were huge patches of red fungi.

Hinata paled. "…Is this the secret garden?" This place looked more like a nightmare than a paradise. And yet, part of the legend was true, there was a type of growth where sunlight did not touch it…so maybe the other part was true. "…There's no fruit…just fungus. Could it be the fungus?"

The color of the fungi made her cautious, as it could very well be extremely poisonous. It would be foolish to just try one and end up dead for all her trouble; that was one of the many things she would never see how she died…death by mushroom.

"Hmm, I better take a sample. This could benefit the village," Hinata said to herself, reaching for one of her storage scrolls. If anything the bizarre growth might just be as the legend states, or at least something they could utilize for another purpose.

She started to approach one of the clusters, when her foot slipped on a slimy patch of ground and she toppled over and slid further into the swamp, head straight into a really large group of the weird mushrooms. Upon impact, clouds of crimson spores erupted all around her, clinging to her clothes, entering her nose and mouth, and even more as she gulped in air, and then started to choke as they coated her throat and lungs, making them burn angrily.

She struggled to breathe and swat away the offensive spore cloud, but it proved futile as she started to feel herself losing consciousness from lack of oxygen. She tried forcing herself to stay awake, if she went under, she'll definitely choke to death and never wake up again. There was still so much she wanted to do, so much she hoped to accomplish for her clan, and most importantly to her…be with Naruto...

But the darkness won.

It rapidly closed in on her and she felt her lungs exhale a mouthful of those crimson spores…then she knew nothing more. Her body lied in the fungi patch motionless as her skin paled as the final sign that death had taken her. Some time went by, maybe hours, and nothing else happened…until.

Her eyes shot wide open and she sat straight up screaming in terror and pain. She clawed at the ground with her good hand as her shattered arm began jerking and twisting as the fragments of bone realigned and fused back to their original state, leaving her in excruciating agony, then the wild limb stopped. Hinata gasped and rolled onto her side, blinking back the pain.

"W-What happened?" she panted in confusion as she looked at her arm, flexing the hand which responded normally, even if it still ached some, but even that was rapidly fading.

She pushed herself up to sit on the wet ground and pondered what had happened to her…and why the cavern was so damn bright now. It stung at her eyes, forcing her to rub them until it dulled some, and then she noticed she felt…different. It was like her body no longer felt like her own, like she slipped out of it and was put into someone else's. The skin felt tight and stretched. Her muscles were twitching underneath the skin and even her bones felt as if they were constricted by her flesh. It was as if her body was completely alien to her now, it didn't know how to house her, and yet when she moved to stand up, she felt so much stronger than she ever had.

She looked down at herself and at all the red spores that clung to her body. "…Was it the spores?"

She ran her hands down over her chest to collect the spores, and then brought them to her face. Something inside her tempered her to do this and then…inhale them; which she did eagerly…

This time she didn't choke. They went down her throat like silk and she could almost feel her lungs practically devour the crimson spores. An encouraging feeling came over her and she started to sweep up the rest of the spores on her. Off her sleeves, on her legs, even over her most intimate areas to collect more spores to inhale and each breath full made her insides purr.

It wasn't enough to satisfy her, though.

She unzipped her jacket to seek out more that might still be clinging to her body, but when she found none, she kneeled down to the ground and almost started licking the slimy, red ground. Then she felt a presence! Instinctively, she activated her Byakugan and her vision homed in on someone entering the swamp. She growled. Someone intruded into her swamp!

For a split second, she wondered why she felt so territorial over this dank, slimy swamp, then that feeling was quickly suppressed and the urge to protect what was hers overwhelmed anything else. She crawled slowly on all fours, moving to use the dark growth to hide, and also as an afterthought, concealed her chakra signature before the intruder sensed her.

The intruder slumped his way further into her swamp. Her Kekki Genkai allowed her to see every move he made, and so far he hadn't detected her yet. Yes, the intruder was a male, and as irony would have it, it was the missing-nin that had attacked her; his slashed hitai-ate shined like a star to her sensitive vision, and he was injured. The side of his head was bloody and the way he cradled his right eye led her to believe he may have lost the use of it…all the better for her. It would be so simple for her to sneak up on him and use her Jukon to stop his heart…but that was just too simple. This may prove to be an opportunity to see what power she may now have!

But that didn't please her, either.

First of all she had no idea what powers she had exactly. If she let herself rush in blindly, she could still be killed by this wounded shinobi. She had to be cautious; she nearly had two close calls and she did not bother to push her luck any more than it already had. Her mind calculated possible ways to use this situation to her advantage, as it could be a waste to simply kill the man. After all…he could prove very useful to her.

But that would require she made herself known, let him make the first move and…

She couldn't believe the line of thought her mind was taking. She actually was thinking of using another person for her personal benefit; what's more, what she was willing to do to gain his trust…she smiled darkly to herself. Her inhibitions were gone! Her self-confidence had taken a giant leap, and now, she felt she could do anything without the slightest bit of shame…or embarrassment. She had to test it!

This was what she truly sought her entire life and this man would be a great test subject to see just how much confidence she had gained. Any moral shame that could be implicated in her actions really didn't matter. She was a kunoichi! Their line of profession at times demanded they do things no woman would want to happen. It didn't matter. So long as the mission they were sent on was accomplished, any moral or personal feelings were left behind. Something her sensei's close friend had stated many times to her, mostly when she wasn't around. She honored her sensei and thought the world of her, but there were some things she would not prepare her for, like how to mentally accept a situation that required her to use her body to complete her objective…or in the event she was assaulted by male enemies. That didn't mean she was going to throw herself at this man. There was only one man she may do that for, but he wasn't here…and she needed to prepare for him. She wanted to do it right so he'd like her and want her, and if this helped her win him over, then it would be well worth it.

She made up her mind and slowly stood up from the tall patch of growth she was hiding behind. "…Ohayo."

The missing-nin immediately came alert! He drew his kunai, and despite his injuries, he readied to attack. "W-Who is there!"

Hinata blinked for a moment. Could he not see her? She looked around and noticed that the spot she was in was shadier than the rest of the bright cavern…or was it? Had she gained some form of night-vision? If so than this whole event was proving more and more worth all the trouble. Quickly, she stepped into a slightly brighter spot.

"…Don't worry, I'm not an enemy here," Hinata spoke carefully, raising her hands up and away from her kunai pouch.

The missing-nin blinked at the sight of her. "Y-You!"

He tightened his grip on his weapon and readied to attack her, but then groaned and clutched at his head. "Ah…damn fall!"

Hinata smiled. The man must have a concussion from the way he was acting. This could definitely help win him over.

"You're hurt. Don't try to move," she said softly, taking a step toward him. "I know some medical jutsu…let me ease that pain."

"S-Stay back leaf-scum!" he spat hotly at her, stumbling away. "Don't think I won't finish what I started!"

"That situation is over now," she said. "We are both lost in the dark and alone. We should help each other, at least until we can find our teammates."

"Humph, you might be lost here, babe, but we of the Rock know how to navigate in places like this," he retorted. "I'll get out on my own without the help from the likes of you!"

Hinata remained smiling. In her mind, she raged to keep to the plan and not kill this ungrateful wretch. She had to ration it up to him still believing he was in danger. She needed to make him think otherwise.

"Please, at least let me apply a little First-Aid. You obviously hit your head. You might have a bad concussion. I promise, I won't harm you," she said as nicely as she always sounded.

"…Why should I trust you?" he demanded.

"Because we can help each other," she replied, summoning the healing chakra to her hands. "I can heal you and you help me out of here. Once we reach the surface, we can go our separate ways and all is forgiven from what had happened."

"Just like that? You Leaf are too soft-hearted," he growled, looking distastefully at her…then he sighed as he looked away from her. "…F-Fine. I'll agree to this temporary truce…just until we leave this damn, forsaken place." He put his kunai away and beckoned her over to him.

Her smile widened.

"You won't regret this," she said, surprised she was almost purring the words out.

He blushed some. "W-Whatever. Just heal me and we can get going!"

"But of course," she complied and moved closer to him.

She wasn't completely foolish to simply walk up to him defenselessly. Should he try and turn on her, she could easily take him down with her healing chakra. It wasn't as perfect as Sakura's, but she could make her chakra cut as sharp as a scalpel…and end his life in a blink of an eye. He seemed to trust her because he made no more aggressive moves toward her when she placed her hands to his head and began easing his discomfort.

"I can't believe I fell prey to my own jutsu," he began to rattle, probably to keep himself busy while she worked on him. "It shouldn't have gotten this bad! Those fools only had to grab the stuff and we could have been out of there!"

"So you had no intention of killing all of us?" she asked.

He growled. "I would have…even though I did wish to avoid any unneeded killing. I have enough hunters on my trail; I don't need more from the Leaf chasing after me…"

"My, this is the first time I've met a nice missing-nin," she giggled.

She barely caught it but he started blushing again. "I have to admit. I never fought a team like yours before, you were pretty tough."

"Are you trying to flatter me?" she purred, oddly liking how he was giving her praise.

"H-Hey! I'm just being honest!" he defended, shooting her a glare. "Unlike most of my people, I can respect and compliment other people's skills, regardless of what village they're from."

She suddenly did something very un-Hinata-like. She leaned down and pressed her chest to his shoulder, giggling some when he stiffened at her touch. "Keep speaking in such a way and I might start to really like you."

He cocked a grin at her. "…Is that so? What would you do if you really liked me?"

She shrugged, intentionally, to let her chest slide up and down his shoulder. "You never know, do you? But let me finish my work…we'll have plenty of time to get to know one another."

From then on, he was the best patient she had. He quietly let her heal his injuries and did as she asked when she needed him to move or change his angle; all the while his good eye was watching her with heat in it.

A little bit more time went by and she finished what she could. "I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do about your eye."

He shrugged as she wrapped gauze over his ruined eye. "Risks of the trade… _Kami, that's a great rack she's got!_

Hinata widened her eyes and heat rushed to her face. For a moment, she feared she was going to pass out as she used to, but it didn't happen. What shocked her more was that she heard that comment about her chest…in her mind! It was easy to deduce because the words echoed in her head, and she had been looking right at him, and not once did his lips move when he talked about her chest. It was what he thought!

She just read his mind! Or she assumed she had, she had to test it once more, only this time she tried reaching out with her mind to listen. "…See something of interest?"

He immediately averted his eye from her large bust. "Umm, n-no!" _How can I help it? Those things are huge! They gotta be D-cup…E tops!_

This was amazing! Ino would die for this ability. All the Yamanakas would kill for this ability…she needed to get these spores back to Konoha, immediately! That brought her to another issue, this man. If he learned what the spores could do he may turn on her…

…_I can't believe this. I'm chased out of my village because of a councilor's daughter…bitch played with me, and I thought she was serious! I even proposed…and I get accused of assault and rape. I ran into idiots who were also running…try to get them to work together and survive the hunters…and I lose an eye! This is fucking unfair! I just want…I don't know what I want…Well, at least I've got a hottie with me, but I better not tick her off. The way my luck's been lately, I'll lose my balls...damn it all._

That whole statement killed any notion of ending this man's life. He was too desperate and so it turned out, he was actually a decent guy with very rough luck…just like her precious knuckleheaded blonde. In a little way, this guy reminded her of Naruto. He was handsome and had sandy blonde hair, a golden tan and his eye was almost the same shade of bright blue. Maybe it was because she missed Naruto so much, or the new confidence she obtained from the spores, but she started wrapping her arms around him and nuzzled her face against his neck.

When he stiffened, she said, "Shh…you seem to need this. You've had it hard, haven't you?"

He sighed and relaxed, one arm moved around her waist. "…That's a fact. I just can't seem to catch a break."

"Things change. Believe me, I'm a perfect example of it," she purred, rubbing her cheek along his throat, inhaling his scent, finding it very alluring.

He shuddered a little bit. "…Is that right?"

"Mmm, yes. I had a very big problem with confidence and my clan demanded so much from me…I had to appease their wishes for me to act like the way they wanted me to, but I always seemed to fail, and then…I met a very special person, and he showed me how someone can overcome anything. His inner strength was amazing, and he helped me find mine when I needed it most. Since that day, he had become my source of strength and one of my precious people."

He slumped some. "…So he's your boyfriend? Lucky man…"

She placed her hand on his chest and started rubbing it. "No…he's not mine…I hope he will be but he doesn't know about my feelings. I had planned to tell him when he returned from his two-year mission…but I might never get the chance if I'm stuck in here."

He suddenly tightened his grip around her, pulling her hard against his frame. "I'll help you. I'll see you get out of here safely. I-I owe you that much for showing me this much kindness." He blushed, looking down at her.

The sudden determination and heat that radiated from his body stirred something deep inside her. He reminded her so much of her Naruto, and she couldn't help but be attracted to it. The moment caught her and she found her lips pressed against his throat, kissing it tenderly, then she spoke against his skin. "Thank you…You have no idea what that means to me." She suckled on the spot she kissed, and she relished when his body shuddered again and succumbed to her.

"N-Not a problem," he managed to utter, totally in shock she was doing this with him, a complete stranger…one that had a while ago attacked her.

But that was the world they lived in and how it will always be. One moment you are fighting an enemy…the next they could be making out, and he wasn't complaining in the least.

She swooned at the taste of his flesh, it was sweaty and spicy when she let her tongue stroke the bit she had between her lips. One of his hands cupped the back of her head to encourage her, and she compiled by gently touching his trapped flesh with her teeth and he moaned approvingly. He took this as an invitation from her and with his unoccupied hand, moved to take a firm hold of the large mound of covered flesh, squeezing it eagerly. The unexpected contact surprised her and her jaw twitched before she moaned against his throat. He yelped a little as there was a sharp pain from her teeth, but he paid it no mind when she returned to sucking on his neck where she bit him with vigor.

He was really getting into the moment. She let him grope her all he wanted and she was starting to grind against him, knocking him down on the murky cavern floor, moaning delightfully against his neck. Her attention to his neck increased and it started to sting more, but he paid it little mind as he didn't mind it getting rough. She apparently did and if she was willing to go this far with a supposed enemy, he had no qualms about getting a major hickey to remind him of this wild time. He did notice that he was starting to feel lightheaded, though. His vision was beginning to go when he started to realize that something was wrong.

"…H-Hey, I think we're going too fast, here…" he said, surprised at how weak his voice suddenly got.

Her moaning increased to a low growl and there was a distinctive gulping sound emitting from her now. Reacting hastily, he grabbed a good hold of her hair and with all his strength, which was also fading from him, he yanked her head back. Pain exploded from his neck with a few spurts of what looked like blood…his blood…splashing his face and hers.

"What in Kami's name…?" he gasped when he stared at her face.

She bore an expression of sheer ambrosia. Her pale-pupil-less eyes rolled back into her head and she cued in pure bliss. But his expression turned to pure horror from what happened next. Those pale-white eyes of her flooded with crimson, as if blood was poured right into them, leaving them a solid red and she parted her mouth as she moaned from whatever pleasure she was experiencing and with it was two sets of fangs glistened in the dim light, soon being joined by more sharpening teeth as she started to smile, which nearly split her face completely in half as her lips just kept extending until they reached behind her cheekbones.

"_**What's wrong? Not enjoying yourself?**_" she purred in a deep, haunting voice.

He opened his mouth to scream when she lunged forward and tore into his throat with her extended mouth, sinking her entire new set of fangs into his neck and started slurping the fountain of blood that rushed over her eager tongue. The missing-nin could do nothing as the shock of her attack and the rapid loss of blood quickly ended his existence, leaving only a ragged flesh-doll underneath a monster as it feed on his life-essence mindlessly.

The beast that was once Hyuga Hinata continued to feed until it had felt satisfied and full. The horrific row of fangs detached from the dead man's neck and her features started to melt back to the beautiful face it once was, but her eyes remained two orbs of solid crimson. With the return of her normal features came rational thought; and it was in overdrive over the vile act she had just done.

"…W-Why…why did I do that?" she whispered in shaking terror, staring down at the man she had just killed.

It was all so sudden. She merely was going to get him worked up enough to agree to get her back to the surface, maybe even see if he would agree to join Konoha, and instead, she killed him. And not just kill him…she feed on him! The blood coating her tongue and throat was still thick and its coppery smell was strong in her nostrils.

She should be sick and gagging right now…

But she wasn't. If anything, her throat was swallowing down what was left of the missing-nin's blood coating it and her stomach felt so satisfied. It radiated a sensation throughout her entire body that, if she had to compare it with, would have been what she thought sex would have been like…a wondrous afterglow.

As that feeling flooded throughout her, she felt her strength completely return, warming her core and ridding it of the ache and cold since she had fallen into the earth. Whatever the bizarre fungus had done to her, the affects were quickly becoming clear as to what had really happened to her.

"…I'm a vampire?" Hinata gasped to herself.

The she heard something. It bounced throughout the entire cavern like a lost voice hollowing from a far distant place.

_No…Wamphyri!_

"Wamphyri?" Hinata repeated, looking all around her.

The sound immediately stopped. Whether it was satisfied with her acknowledgement of the word, or if it lost whatever strength it had left, but she felt a wave of peace wash over the dark swamp, as if it finally could rest at last.

Still somewhat confused, she stood up, forgetting the dead Rock-nin as it no longer seemed important to her, and started walking up to the entrance of the place. She peered over the entire swamp and gazed at all the red fungus. It took some time but then as she examined them, she started to realize something about them. Each cluster was laid out in random places and stretched out in four directions, some twisting in either obtuse or angular patterns, and then she finally realized something when she looked at how the formations shaped out.

The fungi had formed in the perfect outline of a human-being.

Each one was laid out like someone had fallen and remained there; leaving behind the crimson fungus as the only prove they once existed.

"This…this is a graveyard for these creatures," she uttered to herself as she began to understand further.

Her mind began to fire off so many questions. Who were these creatures, why did they come down here and die? She waited and hoped that mysterious voice would answer her questions, but all remained quiet as when she first stepped into the cavern. It seemed the presence had said all it wanted to say. Her musing came to an abrupt halt when she heard someone groan in pain.

Quickly, she looked down and she saw the man she just killed start to move!

"I didn't kill him!" Hinata said in astonishment.

She ran, sliding was more like it, to where she left him as he started to sit up and start coughing hoarsely. He looked around, like he didn't know where he was, even when he saw her running to him, he didn't react in fear as he should have. If anything, he appeared to be relieved when she approached him.

She in turned gasped as she reached him. His skin was now a deathly pale shade and his wound around his neck was closing up as it healed in seconds before her eyes. He gazed at her with his visible eye with what she could only describe as devotion.

"…What happened to me?" he uttered to her in a submissive tone.

She pondered for a moment herself, by all means he should be dead from the massive blood loss, but he was now getting up and looking with pure loyalty on his face…as if he was enthralled.

A giddiness spread over her as she came to that realization. "Tell me your name and home village."

Without a moment of hesitation, he answered, "Mochizuki Rein, former jonin of Iwagakure."

An evil smile cracked her beautiful face. "And what am I to you, Rein?"

"You are…" Here he seemed to pause as he tried to find the right wording.

Hinata reached up and cupped his confused face gently in her blood-caked hands. "I am your master, Mochizuki. You've been reborn because of me…you are mine."

"I...am yours," he said with a finality to his tone, as if fully accepting his new station. An eerie smile appeared on his face as he reached up and yanked down the bandages around his ruined eye, greeting his new master with a fresh, angry yellow eye, which she knew would soon turn crimson like hers as soon as he fed for the first time.

She patted his cheek in reward to his acceptance. "Good, very good, my Rein. Now, let's see just how much of a good boy you really are. Lead me out of here…in fact, take me to your campsite. I think we should add to our growing family." She finished with a face splitting smile.

**xXx**

It took them less than an hour to make it out of the underground swamp, Rein proved to be very talented with earth manipulation and created a tunnel for them leading up to the surface. Once he led her out they found it was night time and that they were right at the base of the mountain that the caravan had been passing by. It did not take him long to get his bearings and quickly the two made it to his camp, where he found quite a number of the rogues that he had tried to lead resting or brooding about the failed raid. Hinata and her thrall, a term that just popped in her head when she referred to him, stayed some distance from the camp, plotting with her thrall what she had in mind for the unsuspecting men.

Putting back his bloodied bandage over his eye, wiped some of the still fresh blood on his clothes on the side of her face, giving her the appearance she had received a head wound. A simple ruse for simple men, as Mochizuki had informed her when she asked why type of men he had been working with. She finished fixing herself up after she made a few more rips in her clothes, letting her ivory-white skin show, ripping where they would be the most distracting, but not really revealing anything. Once she was finished fixing herself up, she allowed her thrall to pick her up bridal-style and let herself just drape loosely in his arms, closing her eyes and appearing to anyone she was unconscious.

With his fake hostage now in her role, Mochizuki carried her right into the campsite.

As soon as he made clear of the brush, he shouted out to them. "Hey, you bunch of idiots! Where the hell were you when I needed help!"

From around the fire, a dozen men sat up sharply and drew their weapons upon instinct. When one of them saw the intruder was their self-appointed leader, they relaxed.

"Geez, Rein! Don't scare us like that!" one of the men, a brunette with have his head shaved, leaving a mohawk to lie lazily over one side of his head.

"Just shut your yap and everyone come over here and see what I brought!" Mochizuki ordered, waving his arms to let his false captive's limbs sway some.

The men came over, some having to limp over because of the wounds they obtained after the failed raid. The one with the mohawk gasped and pointed when he saw just who their leader was holding.

"It's that Hyuga bitch!"

"Wow, how did you get her?" one from the group asked, a man with two scars running across his left eye.

Rein just gave them a look. "I trapped her down below, where I fell and was left to die, no thanks to any of you, you pathetic excuses of shinobi!"

"Hey, we had to make a break for it because of that damn earthquake you made! We'd have been killed or captured that those leaf bastards if we stuck around any longer!" the mohawk guy defended.

"Whatever, I'm back and things are going to change from here on now," Rein stated, trying to keep his angry face from smiling and reveal the set of fangs he had just grown.

"That's for sure. This girl doesn't have that seal-thingy her clan likes to you, so she's a Main member of the Hyuga clan! We can sell her off to Kumo or use her as a bargaining chip to join their village!" the scared one commented, tired of constantly running from the hunters.

"That can come later," one of them spoke up, inching toward the seemingly unconscious leaf-nin. "I say we make this bitch pay with that hot body for the trouble she and her comrades gave us!" He came over and patted Rein right on the shoulder. "Since you caught her, you should get first dibs….unless you already got some. Heh heh!"

"Oh…I got something alright," Rein finally grinned, his eyes slowly expressing the dark intent in him.

"You lucky shit! What piece did you do…ARGH!"

He could not finish his statement as Hinata struck. She opened her eyes and was upon the man in a flash, her fangs sinking into his throat and gulping his blood greedily. The mohawk one was next to fall, Rein had dashed right at him the moment Hinata had jumped from his arms. He could now satisfy his curiosity and thirst as his master had on him. He led no mercy as his mouth latched onto the unsuspected victim's throat and nearly ripped his throat completely off, letting the fountain of blood it produce pour down his throat like a river and he drained the body in a matter of moments, his dull-looking eyes flooded with crimson like his master as his nature finally was given what it needed. The man fell dead and Rein began looking for his next meal. Hinata had abandoned her first meal was already finishing her second and eyeing her third.

The entire front of her body was soaked with blood and she ran her hands over it to begin licking it off her fingers. "Ssssssoooo good!" she purred loudly, not at all ashamed of the exotic way she moved her hands over her body to smear more blood over her pale flesh.

"S-Shit, they're demons!" a man managed to cry out before Rein had leapt on his back and pinned him to the ground, biting into this shoulder and feasting, relishing in the wild, pained screams of his newest meal.

It took little time to finish off the rest of the men. Hinata and her thrall got them all before they got too far after the first few kills. She sat, waiting for her new thralls to awaken to their new life, ordering Mochizuki to put out the campfire as the flames made her feel nervous. She regarded that feeling she had with worry. She found she could not go too close to the simple fire without feeling the need to pull back and flee.

It stung her eyes and her flesh felt like crawling away without her the closer she got to its heat. She would need to be very cautious around fire if only a simple camp fire had this much effect on her. As it was, she had Rein put the offensive fire out to calm her nerves. They sat in the cold night air and watched the dead bodies of the fallen until they began to sheer on their own. Hinata frowned as she noticed that only the victims, she herself, had attacked were moving. All the others that Rein had fed on remained as dead as they appeared, leaving her with only seven out of the twelve men they had fed on. She had assumed that because he was like her, his bite would have the same effect as hers; now she knew it did not. This led her to understand that she wasn't like him, she was more than him. She was a Wamphyri as the voice decreed. He was just a mere thrall she created, so he was not strong enough to turn someone, so she decided to call weak ones like him simply vampires when not addressed as thralls. This also taught her that if she was going to begin adding any more thralls to her command, she would have to do the dirty work herself. Although, she admitted to herself found it amusing to see her first thrall enjoy himself so much. It was like watching a child take their first steps in a bizarre, parental way, but that was the closest similarity she could make of the feeling.

When the new thralls became aware they were not as dead as they thought they were, they reacted in different ways than rein had when he was reborn. One saw them and actually tried to run away from them, but when she focused on him, the man froze as she thought mentally for him to stop. Some even seemed to be grinning like madmen as they felt the effects of the change and fell at her feet in gratitude. But one, the man that wanted to have his way with her body, he glared right at her.

"You fucking monster, what have you done to me!" he shouted, touching the now smooth flesh where his throat had once been torn open.

Hinata did not give this one a reply. She stared at him a disappointed frown as she sent her mental commands at him to be silent, finding he tried to resist her and somewhat did, but then he succumbed to her will and hatefully followed her command to get on his hands and knees and bow to her.

"Hmm, you are going to be a stubborn one," Hinata mused to herself, wondering if it was worth keeping this stubborn thrall or not. Her eyes then spotted the cooling embers of the fire and an idea popped into her head as she grinned evilly. "Rein...get the fire going again."

"Yes, my master," he said without a hint of annoyance after having just put them out.

She watched in fascination as he used a simple fire-jutsu to restart the fire, noting very quickly that jutsu fire did not seem to bother her thrall at all when ignited. She would have to experiment at her earliest opportunity to see fire produced by chakra would hamper her compared to normal fire, or if the chakra used to make the fire made it safe to use. Once he had the timber burning again, then she spotted the fire begin to shake him some, but she gave him credit for not flinching very much away from it. That pleased her greatly.

"Now then, all of you," she said as she turned her attention on her gravelling thralls. "As your first act as my thralls…your first command will be a simple one." She rose from her spot and pointed a sharpened nail finger right at the scarred man. "Throw him into the fire…"

They rose to their feet and did as she commanded without falter. They grabbed their startled comrade, who tried to fight them off, failing quickly as they subdued him and carried him over to the fire. None of them listened to his desperate pleas to stop; they only did as listened to the cool, sweet voice of their master. Rein had thrown more timber on the fire, making it bigger than it had been before, seeing the simple would not be enough. They then tossed the struggling thrall right into the flame and jumped back. The scarred thrall screamed unnaturally as the fire consumed his body quickly as though it were made of wicker. He tried thrashing away from the fire and roll on the dirt to put himself out, but the flames ate at his flesh too quickly and within moments, his body stopped moving and cooked motionlessly. The fire had nearly reduced his body to ash, the bones weren't as quick to burn, but they were softening and would soon be nothing.

There was not a single bit of remorse as Hinata watched the thrall die. She had watched the scene with uncaring eyes, studying the death itself rather than the man she just had killed. It had been a very important lesson for her now that she was a Wamphyri. Fire was very dangerous to them. Their flesh was very receptive to it and could easily die if caught on by it. This made things somewhat complicated for her if she could burn that easily, and it made her wonder what else exactly she needed to be wary of…

It was some time later that she learned another thing she had to be afraid of…the sun.

As soon as it started to rise over the horizon, its warm yellow beams breaking the night sky away, she screamed in agony as the light started to sizzle her flesh where it was touched by sun-rays. Thinking quickly, she ordered her thralls to follow her back to the tunnel she had used to return to the surface. They just made it into the protective darkness when the sun had fully risen and the day began. She had an overwhelming hate grip her heart toward the sun's light. Not only did this hamper more things for her, but now she had to fear something far worse than fire.

"Master…does this change your plans?" Rein asked, as he gently pulled her away from the entrance of the tunnel.

"No. This will not do anything to change what I have in mind," Hinata said curtly, allowing her thrall to act overprotective of her, finding it very much to her liking. She sauntered straight into the darkness, away from the offending light and commanded her thralls to follow. "We will stay under the earth until dusk. When it is night once more we will start making our way to our main destination!"

"Where would that me, my master?" one of her new thralls asked timidly.

"Why, to my home village, my thrall…I have great plans for the Leaf," Hinata humored him, licking her blood-stained teeth. "I have a family that needs correcting…something I've longed to do for some time…"

It was only a matter of time now. She was a new beginning and she had many things to do. After all, it was only right to prepare a proper home welcome for the man she had chosen to admire, and now she can help him achieve his goals, even if she had to drown the world in blood to do it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or material from Necroscope. Naruto is the rightful property of Shonen Jump and the Necroscope material belongs to Brian Lumley.

**A/N: **If anyone is unsure of the material from Necroscope, please go to and look up the information of that fandom. Particularly if you want to know what exactly a Wamphyri is and its characteristics and nature.

**xXx**

**Chapter 2**

It was almost like lightning striking the earth the moment night fell over the sky. Hinata and her thralls left the protective tunnel, running at speeds that would have been too dangerous even for seasoned shinobi to dare. They made their way through the Land of Fire without stopping or speaking, both were not needed. Hinata had explained her desires to her thralls while they waited for night time, each knew what was going to be expected of them, and she took the time to learn all their abilities so she could implement them when needed.

When they reached the road that led straight to Konoha, Hinata went around the nearby forest that stood around the village. She and her thralls snuck past the Anbu patrols, using her Byakugan, and finding her new state had improved it greatly. Now she could see further than she ever thought possible and she could 'feel' the life-force of every living thing around her, allowing her to see even the chakra-concealing Anbu that wandered the area around them. She found the safest path leading straight to what her fellow villagers have affectionately called: "The Forest of Death."

The forest was overly large, the trees and plant-life that grew within it being the largest in nearly the entire Elemental Countries, and its nickname was given by the numerous large deadly creatures that dwelled inside it. It would be perfect for her to enter the village unseen, as there was always just a slim patrol that guarded the forest, but never entered it unless absolutely necessary. She chose this location because of the weak security and because it was the darkest area in Konoha and sitting in the center of it was a tower. The tower was vacant, as it was only used whenever the Chunin Exams were held in the Land of Fire. All she need worry was disabling the security and the seals plastered all over it. Luckily, she could locate all the seals and they systemically removed them and placed their own set of warning seals up. They were not as advanced as the ones they were taking off, but they were better than nothing until she could get a seal master under her control.

She scanned the tower for any surprises or people that might be occupying the tower, seeing none, she set her thralls about to search the tower in case something was blocking her Byakugan. They reported back that they were the only ones present and the remainder of the seals had been dealt with. Finally sure that she did not need to worry of being discovered, she made herself comfortable in the makeshift office that was reserved for the Hokage to use when using the tower. Her loyal thralls all waited tentatively for her next orders while she took the chair for a spin, and then relaxed in it.

"So far so good," she said, breaking the long silence that had befallen them since they departed from the underground tunnel. "Now then, Rein. We shall begin our next phase of operations."

"Hai, my master!" Rein said, bowing immediately.

"The rest of you will remain here and fortify this tower, namely locking up all the windows and anywhere sunlight will get to us, understood?" Hinata said to the other.

They bowed and left to begin their work. Rein remained with her.

"Come, we begin 'recruiting' more handy helpers!" Hinata stated as she pushed herself out of the seat and motioned for him to follow behind her.

He quickly fell in step behind her. She led him to the lowest level of the tower, the boiler room and then waved Rein to begin. As he had done back in the underground swamp, he began forming a tunnel down into the ground, making a tilted sloop rather than a straight shot down one, and then he worked it in the direction of the village. It took some time, even with Hinata using her dojutsu to guide him where to stretch the tunnel to, halting only when he needed to let his chakra recover. She noted he was weakening fast and he started to slow down even after he had time to replenish, but he continued onward with hardly a complaint. She really was very pleased with her first thrall. He was a promising one and would be very reliable if this devotion kept on like this. To encourage him, she fed him, letting him sink his fangs into her wrist and drink just enough to replenish his strength to keep going. She found the experience very stimulating and felt parts of her body react in ways she never thought could. These feeling she reigned back to wait for a more apparent time, wishing to keep her mind on the task at hand.

One more small feeding and Rein had finally reached the destination. She used her eyes to lead him up precisely where she wanted the tunnel to open up, instructing him to make just a small opening; one big enough for a single person to crawl up. Doing as she commanded, he quietly broke through and the cool night air rushed down into the stuffy tunnel. He aided her up to the hole and she grinned as her head stuck out into the Hyuga compound, just under the walk-paths in the center of the main house.

Crawling further out, she wiggled her body to the edge of the walk path and peeked around for anyone that might still be up. As it happened, one of the clan's branch members was walking right past without noticing her. She waited until the person left and then wiggled herself out completely and started dusting her ripped, bloody clothes.

"Excuse me, has my father retired to his room yet?" Hinata called out to the branch member.

The clansmen jerked around and fell into her family's favored taijutsu stance before he realized just who had spoken to him. "Oh? Lady Hinata! It's you! We thought you lost after the last mission your team had gone on!" Quickly remembering who he was talking to, he bowed his head and averted his eyes. "A-As to your father, he is not in the village at the moment. He took Lady Hanabi out on family business."

Hinata frowned distastefully at that news. She had hoped he was at home for what she had in mind, same with her sister, but it really didn't make a difference to her; it just put off the inevitable. "Thank you for your concern…I've decided you won't die."

"It is no trouble, Lady Hinata…I…what did you say?" he uttered, and before he could do anything, he was tackled by Hinata, feeling her tear her teeth into his throat, drowning the cry of pain that almost shouted out.

Hinata drained him of enough blood to quench her growing thirst after feeding Rein as she had. It revitalized her greatly and when she was done, she dragged the body and shoved it toward the hole, where Rein's hand shot out and grabbed a limb and pulled the body down into the hole with him. Hinata then began roaming the inner home for any others that were still up, finding three more and dealing with them as she had the first, and then taking their motionless bodies to Rein to take down to their tunnel, the last one she knocked out, a member of the main branch, a distant uncle if she could recall and took him to Rein to let him feed and regain his strength. She worked through the house, going to her room to get a change of clothes to repair her rags and to clean off some of the dirt and blood that had been collecting on her.

Changed and clean, she could continue her little gathering as no one would suspect anything was wrong now that she wasn't so filthy looking. She just smiled at their stupidity and wondered why she had ever been so scared of them all her life. Each one she found alone dropped like flies when they saw her innocent face, never once realizing a predator was looking back at them and not the sweet, timid doe they all cursed her for being alive. Well, now she was more than that silly little girl, she was exactly what her clan wanted her to be…cold, heartless, and now as she finished relishing her recent catch, she found she could be very cruel. She just took what they wanted from her to a whole new level…

Noises began to rise up around the compound suddenly. Someone must have noticed the disappearance of some of the guards or one of the main branches spouses had come to look for their lost sufficient other. Hinata quickly carried her latest victim back to the hole and dashed under the walkway and pushed the body down the hole and slide right in after it. Once she had cleared the hole, she had Rein seal it up so as to not let anyone discover them or the tunnel.

When he finished he bowed to her and grinned madly as he looked at all the slowly moving bodies that were beginning to wake up into their new life. "Wonderful harvest, my Lady," he said, using the suffix after hearing the first victim use it when he saw her.

"Hmm, more than I had hoped to get on the first try, eighteen is an adequate number," Hinata complimented herself, watching her new thralls all become aware of their new surroundings.

She quickly commanded them once they were strong enough to get back onto their feet to follow the tunnel back and join her other people in fortifying the tower, given them all another order to not leave the tower or try to flee, until she returned to decide which would be useful to her and who might be too stubborn-headed to control. None of them fought her mental commands and wandered down the tunnel to begin their new duties.

"Let's make another tunnel a little ways from this spot, give those up top some time to wander clueless about what is happening to them," Hinata advised, brushing a stray lock of hair off her face.

"As you command, my Lady," Rein replied, beginning his work and making his way to a new spot.

They carried on like this most of the night. Hinata would surface and snatch the closest ones and give them her infectious bite, then send them down the hole. When it was getting too dangerous to continue, she then turned to the tower in the Forest of Death with her new thralls. There she sorted them out to tasks that best suited them and was glad that she only had to kill two out of the entire bunch she turned. The bodies were saved, feeling it would be such a waste to simply throw them out or burn them, so she had them packaged and stored until she could find a good use for the remains, until a twisted thought popped in her mind that if she couldn't, then she would just have them chopped up and fed to her thralls if they couldn't capture anymore people soon. Why waste the meat?

With that bit of business down, she had the ones she left behind to fix the tower to report their progress, learning that they've boarded up everything and sealed what they couldn't. Pleased, she dismissed them to go mingle with the new thralls and do as they wished to make the tower more comfortable. As for herself, she felt the need for a bath. A nice, long hot bath to work out her tired muscles and relax some. After all, she had done her fair share of work and boosted her manpower efficiently. She decided a little relaxation was now in order.

"Rein, go have a hot bath readied for me," she said in a dismissive tone that would have made her father proud.

He nodded and quickly left to begin one.

She leaned in her chair and sighed some as she lifted her feet to plant on the desk. Things were going fine so far, it would take a few more nights before the village became wise that their people were starting to disappear, should she keep this pace up, but then her altered mind reasoned why go after just the common ones? It would be best to go after more important ones that would increase her powerbase…so she decided her friends would be the next ones to turn.

The Rookie Nine could not be spit up any more than it had when the Uchiha traitor deserted them. She would have to get them all back together again. What was getting a home welcoming party ready for the man of her heart if none of their friends were there to share it, anyway?

**xXx**

Ino was her first. Unlike what many believed, she was very good friends with the bossy Yamanaka. She was one of the few people out of their graduation group that talked to her like a normal person and even offered to hang out from time to time. They connected even more after Ino's old friend and rival in affection, Haruno Sakura, had become their newest Hokage's apprentice. The pink-haired girl had been unbearable once she had, always rubbing in her accomplishments and receiving such high praise as an apprentice under the Slug Sannin, Senju Tsunade. Ino had tried to follow that same path, but because of her duties as heiress to the Yamanaka clan, and to her own team, she could not put enough time in her tutorship under Tsunade as Sakura had, leaving her always second in medical skills.

Hinata thought it only right that Ino should finally get out from under her rival's shadow and overshadow the prissy pink-haired apprentice. In the middle of the night, Hinata had snuck into Ino's room. It was a secret between her and the female blonde. Whenever her family got to be too much, she would sneak out of the compound and seek refuge in Ino's room and sleep her troubles away in the embrace of her friend, who had no problem giving her the tenderness she craved and needed. Hinata signaled the surprised mind-walker with her coded tap on the glass of her window, and too overwhelmed with happiness to see her friend had not perished as the reports from Hinata's team had said, she eagerly opened the window to let her inside.

She smiled at the blonde right before she pounced on the unsuspecting girl, easily overpowering her and producing some of the fungi she had taken from the underground swamp she had pocketed in her kunai bag and shoved it right into Ino's mouth, closing it tight to let the spores explode inside and pour down her throat, then waited when her friend stopped struggling and laid lifeless under her.

Hinata wanted her friends to be just like her, a Wamphyri. It would be insulting to reduce them to mere thralls; although she had some ideas for one or two others that she didn't want to make the same as her…

It was an hour later of just sitting quietly in Ino's room when the mind-walker started moving, gasping and automatically swallowing the rest of the fungi that was still in her mouth. She shrieked away from Hinata when she found her just watching her, but then calmed and started realizing the change that had come over her.

With a pleased smile, Hinata spoke. "How do you feel, Ino?"

"I…I-I feel strange," Ino managed to say, staring at her darkened room with her newly acquired night-vision. "Why is it so bright in here?"

Hinata giggled and moved over to her. Her crimson eyes roamed over the mind-walkers alabaster skin and curves, finding herself allured to her close friend in a way she had not believed herself capable of. Wordlessly, she pinned the blonde girl against the wall, startling her some.

"Hinata?" Ino uttered with clear confusion, not sure why her friend was looking at her in such a questionable way.

"Hmm? Am I making you uncomfortable?" Hinata teased, not at all feeling ashamed that she was acting this way. She chalked it up to the warm feeling boiling in her core as she let her gaze wander up and down the pinned girl's body.

"You attacked me. Shoved some awful tasting thing in my mouth, and then I felt like I was dying and passed out just to see you leering over me. Now you're looking ready to do something I never would have thought you'd do…so, all-in-all…yeah. I'm a little freaked out right now," Ino responded truthfully.

Hinata placed a finger on her own lips, moving the appendage to stroke her lips suggestively before she nipped the tip of it with the fangs waiting behind them. A nice pool of blood pumped out from her finger and then she waved it underneath Ino's nose, watching as they instinctively reacted to the heavy coppery smell. It was no time at all before Ino found her mouth biting down on that bleeding finger and sucking on feverishly. As she did, Hinata watched in silent fascination as Ino's eyes bled into crimson, filling her orbs completely. The smile just grew near fiendishly wide on the Wamphyri's face.

"Ino, you're so beautiful right now," Hinata purred, stroking the blonde's long hair.

Ino released the finger once it stopped producing blood and gasped out with a faint blush over her face. "…W-Why did that feel so good?"

"Because it just does…" Hinata replied without missing a beat. "And it can just keep getting better." She leaned in and lightly grazed her lips over her friend's, breathing over them lightly.

Ino involuntarily shuddered at this. "…I…I should say no…" Her crimson eyes locked onto Hinata's as an arousing gaze past over her face. "But I don't seem to care at all to say it."

"This new life I gave you will reveal many benefits, Ino-chan," Hinata whispered huskily against her friend's lips, pressing her body firmly now against hers. "You'll find many things you'd normally never do before…for me, I'd have never done this if I was still my old self." Hinata instantly pressed her lips, hard, over Ino's, crushing them in a passionate kiss full of promise. Taking a firm grasp of Ino's chest and squeezing it some.

Ino soon found herself returning the affection with equaled passion and soon, the two friends explored a whole new level of their relationship. Hinata ripped Ino's clothes right off her and moved her to the comfy looking bed, where she began ravaging her body throughout the night. Then, when the two had finally tired of pleasuring one another, Hinata whispered her plan to Ino, who eagerly accepted it and the part she would play in the 'homecoming'.

They retreated back to the tower in the Forest of Death, waiting for the next night to begin recruiting more of their friends. The two slept the day away, waking to find their unnatural lust had returned. Once they sated that particular need, Hinata once again headed out to the village to begin recruiting with Ino willingly aiding her in the task. With the two of them spreading out, each carrying the crimson spores, they sought out the rest of the Rookie Nine…

**xXx**

Within a week, news began traveling quickly in the village. Reports from all the important clans came from all of them that their children had gone missing, along with a disturbing number of citizens, both civilian and shinobi. Senju Tsunade, the Godaime, had called back all her people who were still out on missions and every member of Anbu on outer patrol back to the village for an emergency lockdown. Someone or a group was clearly going after people in Konoha. She had ordered all Jonin to accompany Anbu on patrol throughout the village for signs of the kidnappers. But no sign of struggles, no blood, any clue of whom or what was attacking them could not be found. And yet, the kidnappings continued, full patrols had been late to return and never heard from again, and then Tsunade spotted that some of her strongest jonin joined the list of missing people, including Hatake Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma, Mitarashi Anko, and Yuhi Kunerai.

The meeting she had called to order consisted of the entire council. Whoever was attacking them had not chosen to target any of the stronger members of the village…or in the civilian portion of the council, didn't seem to care to bother with them. The Godaime listened very closely to everything that was said by everyone, even the village elders, who for once were not causing any grief or challenging her authority at every decision she made. It may have been due to the fact that they were just as scared as everyone else in the room.

"Let's begin this meeting!" Tsunade commanded, slamming a hand down, silencing all the idle chatter that had been going on. She scanned the room once to be sure she had everyone's full attention, and then she began. "As it's been made clear, we are losing a drastic amount of our forces and our normal citizens to an enemy we have yet to detect. As no body has yet to turn up, we can assume that it could be a case of kidnapping, or the attackers are killing and hiding all traces of the deaths to keep no trail from leading to them."

"It's exactly like the time when Orochimaru was kidnapping people for his twisted experiments," the clan leader for the Yamanaka, Inoichi, stated, tightening his fists underneath his table, having been on edge since news that his daughter's name was the first added to the list of missing people.

"Could the snake be up to his old tricks again?" spoke a bulky-sized man in red samurai-like armor, Choza, the clan leader of the Akimichi clan.

"Too troublesome, if he could sneak in and out of the village, he wouldn't have wasted time kidnapping just anyone. He would have gone after all of us, and other critically important people of the village," Shikaku, the head of the Nara clan and close friend to the other two clan leaders, said with a sour look on his face. "But then again, the man is as twisted and vile enough to use such tactics to get back at us…With the loss of our kin and some of our Anbu and jonin, it would unstable everyone's judgment with worry."

"He could be setting the Uchiha on us, using his Sharingan to defeat our forces one-by-one," a civilian council-member suggested.

"No, he wouldn't risk letting his favorite toy get too near us," Tsunade quickly shot down. "He's mad but he is far from stupid." She then turned her attention to a stoic man with near-blank, white eyes. "Hiashi, from what the reports have stated your clan has suffered the most from these disappearances, some going missing after just leaving their own homes. Haven't any of your people spotted or seen anything unusual?"

Hiashi raised his head at attention, being by far the most stressed out of everyone, unable to keep his stoic demeanor up. The loss of his daughter had been a heavier blow to him than anyone would have thought; all knowing his treatment of his eldest daughter, but it seemed to have caused him great emotional pain. It only grew when his own clansmen began turning up missing, mostly branch-members, including his nephew, Neji. His grief only increased when his second daughter, Hanabi, had gone missing along with some of the elders who had been overseeing her training while he was out scouting for the intruders.

"…W-We have yet to detect any signs of the intruders. We can only assume now that they are somehow hiding their chakra in ways that block even the Byakugan's vision. How we are unsure…b-but we are suspecting that they are using this method to sneak around the village," Hiashi answered.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Exactly what can obstruct the Byakugan?"

Here the Hyuga leader hesitated. Like all members of his clan, they did not believe there precious dojutsu had any weaknesses. It took every bit of his will to bite back his pride to allow himself to continue speaking. "…The only time that happens is in a chakra induced mist, or anything that fills an entire area with chakra, then our sight cannot discern other chakra from others at a distance." He sighed in aggravation. "But there hasn't even been a slight sign of any chakra that could do this."

Tsunade thought for a moment, and then spoke. "…Hiashi, exactly where have you been scouting?"

"The entire village and the surrounding forests and area beyond," Hiashi answered without hesitation. "We've searched all the buildings and even the training grounds…at least half of them until the recall was established."

"So they could still be in some of the unsearched grounds, maybe the Forest of Death?" Tsume suggested with a snarl on her face. The Matriarch of the Inuzaki clan was just as pressed as her fellow councilmen, as both her children and some of her clansmen had disappeared as well. "The squad that contained my daughter, Hana, had been sent off to search that deathtrap…and that was nearly three days ago."

Tsunade pondered for a moment at the information they had gathered. She assumed that that may have been the most likeliest area as there were hardly any patrols actually assigned 'inside' the forest. It was too dangerous to have too many people to check at area, so she had one of her people that was well acquainted with that area…but that had been Anko, and she had yet to return to report. She had planned to send more people into the forest, but more people started vanishing all over the village, leaving her to guess that it wasn't just that dark forest the invaders were using. There was no way that anyone could move undetected through the village, just the amount of people along in the village would have spotted them and reported their sighting. Whoever these people were they were able to detect whoever is around and subdue even Anbu-leveled shinobi and disappear without a trace. The fact that most of the people that had being 'attacked' were Hyuga, leading her to believe Kumo was behind it, but she knew the current Raikage.

He was too brash and headstronged to use such covert tactics. She then turned her thoughts to Iwa, but unlike the Raikage, the Tsuchikage was a far more cautious man, especially when it came to Konoha; having suffered many losses in the past wars to them, she could only hope he was too paranoid to actually try anything. Kiri was also scratched out, as they have yet made any known contact with the rest of the world, leading her and everyone to believe they were still caught up in their blood-purge. Were there any reports of abnormal weather, like blankets of mist, she would have suspected them in a heart-beat, as they would be the only shinobi that could block the Byakugan. They couldn't use their other trackers, like the Inuzaki's dogs and the Aburame's insects, as both trackers and their companions had instantly gone missing, along with the people they were partnered to.

What really worried her was that there had not been any contact from their allies in Suna. Temari had been sent with Shikamaru and a few of their forces to escort her safely back to her village after the first reported kidnappings. She had thought to send the Kazekage's daughter back to her village before it got too dangerous, but from the lack of any responses from Suna, she feared that she might have played right into their unknown enemy's hand.

Whoever was behind this was a master tactician and had too much knowledge about the village, so she could only conclude that it may be someone from their own village…like.

"Have there been any reported sightings of Uchiha Itachi within our territory?" Tsunade asked her council.

"You think the older Uchiha might be behind this?" Koharu, one of Sarutobi's old teammates who now served as one of the elders on the council.

"Hmm, that might make more sense. He doesn't have extensive knowledge of the village and he did wipe out his own clansman, save for his little brother," Shikaku murmured in response. "He would be skilled enough to take out all the people listed missing easily. He was considered the brightest and most talented Uchiha to come along since Madara himself."

"But what would his reasons be? He's part of Akatsuki and their cause is to obtain all the Bijuu and whoever their containers are," Inoichi countered.

"It is a known fact that Naruto is returning to the village within a few more days. Akatsuki might be behind these disappearances to cause chaos in our ranks and divide our forces up to search for our people, then in the confusion, abduct the Uzumaki to obtain Kyuubi," Danzo voiced his thoughts on the matter. He did not like any of this. Too much was going wrong and the Leaf was weakening by the day, like a parasitic insect eating away at the truck of a tree. The roots may survive but if the cause was not stopped, the tree would die and leave everything vulnerable, until even the roots could hope to live.

"The fact that rumor has spread does not make this situation any better. It should have been kept secret at all costs," Tsunade remarked disgruntledly.

"Which can only prove that we have really loosened our guard," Danzo jabbed.

Tsunade really hated the old warhawk. He never missed an opportunity to question her judgment as Hokage and has always used her time away from the village against her, to express she was not fit enough to lead a village she had chosen to abandon. She had fought hard since she took the mantle of Hokage to make up for her absence, but it never seemed to be enough for the one-eyed man, or the other elders for that matter.

"You forget that anything that involves the orange-loving boy is noticed by everyone, not just his enemies," Tsunade retorted. "He has many friends here who have missed him and have been looking forward to his return."

"Are you speaking about the boy's teammate and your youngest apprentice, Haruno Sakura?" Shibi, the clan-leader for the Aburame clan inquired. The stoic, glass-wearing man had been the only one to keep his cool, even after his own son had disappeared. The man either was truly ruled by logic to not allow himself to grieve like the rest of them, or he was really good at hiding the pain he felt.

Tsunade grimaced a little as she looked away some. She remembered a few days back when she had gotten word from Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin, that he would be returning with Naruto soon and Sakura was having a very rough day at the hospital. She had dropped the hint that the loudmouth blonde might be heading back to the village in hopes it might brighten her spirit. She must have told Naruto's other friends the good news…and if it kept spreading like that, then…

"Ah, crap," Tsunade cursed lowly. "Yes, she did know and most likely that is how the news was spread."

"If she told Ino than it's no doubt the entire village knew about Naruto's return…and that might be why my daughter was the first to be kidnapped!" Inoichi concluded in fear.

"That girl is renowned for being a gossiper and always has her ear out. But that leads to another clue to our mystery enemy. So far, most of the people that have gone missing were people close to Naruto in some way, and if I'm not mistaken, the ramen shop owner and his daughter are on the list of missing civilians. The Uzumaki boy was renowned for spending most of his time there," Shikaku added.

"This can only mean one thing!" a civilian member shouted as he stood up, drawing the attention of the entire room to him. "The demon has finally decided to act and is exacting his revenge on us! He's killing everyone that knows him, taking their souls to satisfy his hunger and building up his power! We must order for Uzumaki Naruto to be executed now!"

His opinion was met with a dead silence right before a blast of KI slammed into him from the Hokage.

"Sit…Down," Tsunade hissed slowly.

The scared councilman did as he was ordered and looked ready to wet himself.

"That had to be the stupidest reason I've ever heard," Shikaku replied, believing that he just lost two brain cells he will never get back for just listening to the man.

"He does raise a point about the Uzumaki…with all the people who have some kind of relation to the Uzumaki going missing. We can only assume the kidnappers are targeting him. I feel it would be best if we send a warning to Jiraiya to keep the boy away from Konoha, until we can deduce what is going on here," Danzo stated critically and leaned back into his chair. "If their ultimate goal is to capture Naruto than we must do everything in our power to keep him out of their hands."

Tsunade frowned at the one-eyed and felt something sick in her stomach as she actually agreed with him. The two elders sitting near him nodded their heads in agreement and Tsunade nodded herself. She could not allow her own personal views of their character to deter from the right chores of action. With a small sigh and a promise to attack the entire contents of the sake bottle she had hidden under her desk, she spoke, "For the sake of his safety and until we can properly find the source of this threat attacking our people, we will send Naruto away from the village."

_**That is unacceptable!**_ a monstrous voice echoed in their minds. _**I was going to keep you fools in the dark, until my precious Naruto returned…but now you've forced my hand!**_

Tsunade rose up from her chair and tried to detect whoever had spoken. Inoichi looked completely frightened by the mental voice.

"Inoichi! Can you trace that telepathic message?" Tsunade ordered.

"I-I did..." the mind-walker was visibly shaking and sweat was starting to pour from his face. "H-Hokage…it was, oh kami, that mind! It wasn't human!"

"Was it the Kyuubi?!" came the expected response from the same civilian councilman who had suggested the Uzumaki's death.

_**Unfortunately, for you, maggot. I'm not…The Kyuubi would simply flatten you like a bug. I won't be so merciful!**_ came another response from the terrifying voice.

As soon as the voice had finished speaking the entire room erupted into chaos. The center of the Council Chamber crumbled in and dark figures jumped out of the hole. The expected response was for the shinobi portion of the council to engage the attackers. The other half started running for the exit, only to find it locked when they tried to yank it open.

"Open this door! We're under attack!" the civilian councilman, who had gone for the door the moment the threat appeared, shouted out while banging a fist on the door.

A disturbing giggle echoed from the other side. "Hehehehehehe, sorry but it's time for the sheep to face the butcher."

"What?" the council man uttered right before dozens of blades pierced through the door.

The man did not have a chance to back away as his fellow civilian members had crowded up behind him, pinning him to the door. He and two other council members died when the blades impaled their bodies, killing them instantly.

The few that managed to back away screamed and tried to flee only to run back into the battle going on. One saw Danzo backing up to a wall behind his chair and pressed up against it. He looked at everyone grimly and dismissed them with a sniff as the wall suddenly spun and he disappeared into a secret passage. The few that were desperate enough to get away headed right for the spot and tried to beat the wall down or find the mechanism that opened it up.

They didn't have much time to look as they were tackled to the ground, screaming as their assailants ripped into them with kunai and fangs eagerly.

Tsunade batted away one of the attackers with a well-placed chakra-enhanced hand, hearing the expected bones crack from the force. The attacker flung through the air like a paper doll and crashed. She sneered at the person and started to go for the next one, until she saw the body start to move and picked himself up from the ground. She gazed in shock as the person roared at her like a wild animal and his red eyes bore into her with pure hatred. It was in that moment that she saw just who her attacker was…

Inuzuka Kiba.

His face was distorted as his mouth was pulled back into a snarling maw of fangs and bleeding gums, but the red markings on his cheeks and the familiar clothes identified it was indeed the son of Inuzuka Tsume. Said woman had just forced her attacker off when she saw her son.

"K-Kiba?" Tsume uttered in shock.

The thing that looked like Kiba slowly turned his attention to the older Inuzuka. "Hey there, mom…like the new look?"

"K-Kiba…n-no, it can't be!" Tsume trembled some, trying to maintain her steely composure.

"Think I'm a sight…you should see Hana," Kiba barked out laughing and pointed beyond his mother.

The Inuzuka Matriarch slowly followed the finger and turned only to meet the pale, nightmarish face that used to be her daughter.

"H-Hana?!" Tsume wept in fright, her eyes widening in horror.

Her oldest child just grinned at her fiendishly and pounced on her. Kiba forsook Tsunade and went over to pounce on his mother, too and soon Tsume's screams echoed up as blood started to fly up into the air between the two Inuzuka's siblings. Similar fate happened to all the parents, as their children appeared, only to attack them.

Shibi's swarm was halted when their host was down on his face with his son, Shino ripping into his back and covered with a murderous horde of bugs.

Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi had tried to team up when Choza's body stopped moving and started moving on its own and swung his beefy fist right at Shikaku's head, punching the heavily scarred man out. He stood there confused until the attackers converge on him and he then felt his body return under his control, but it was too late as they sank their teeth into his chest and neck, pulling him down to the ground. Shikaku never had a chance as he was assaulted by more of the monstrous attackers. Behind them Shikamaru gazed on coldly as his father and the Akimichi went down.

Inoichi managed to pull away when his friends were taken down and backed up to Hiashi who had managed to strike two of the creatures back.

"What are these things?!" Inoichi cried out.

"I do not know! But they look like our people!" Hiashi replied and delivered a palm strike in another of the creature's chest. His blow should have instantly killed the thing, but all it did was knock it back and stun it. A moment later, its body started to get up and come right at him again. "These things are too strong! We have to get out of here and warn everyone!"

Inoichi formed his hand into a hand-sign and focused his attention on one of the creatures. He used his family's signature jutsu to take over the body, hoping it had a mind that he could manipulate enough to use. To his luck, the creature halted as his jutsu made contact and he forced the thing to turn on its own.

"Whatever they are, they are still receptive to jutsu!" Inoichi called out.

"Then I will simply have to add more force!" Hiashi said and sent more chakra into his fighting style.

When he struck the same creature he had knocked back, its chest caved in and where its heart once had been was now just plumped organ fluids. That halted the thing and it clawed at the air helplessly before it collapsed and this time remained motionless.

Hiashi panted a little. He had to put a lot of chakra into that strike and from he was seeing, there were more and more of the creatures pouring out of the hole. It then came to realization to him how no one had detected the intruders. They had been underground the whole time. The Byakugan never allowed the user to see exactly under them, the earth was a natural cover to be overlooked and no one would have suspected to look underneath them in their own home village for an attack. Whoever had orcastrated this invasion had been brilliant in using all their ignorance, allowing them to kidnap anyone, and now seeing what became of them, turn them against their own. His heart panicked as he could only guess that this was the same fate as his own people, particularly his nephew Neji and his own daughter.

His eyes swelled up in tears as that dawned on him that he may come face-to-face with one of them at any moment. He had to leave. He knew if he saw one of them changed into whatever these monsters were, he would lock up just as the other shinobi clansmen who saw their children, then he would share a similar fate as them.

"Inoichi! I'm going to make an exit!" Hiashi shouted quickly and using another concentrated palm strike, he slammed it against the wall closest to them and it shattered and created a huge hole. "Let's go!"

"Right behind you!" Inoichi said as he just turned another of the monsters on themselves. "Lady Tsunade, we have to…no…NO!"

Down on the ground was the Godaime, shaking violent as a woman with familiar features was on top of her with her hands pressed down over his leader's mouth. The Sannin had tried to fight the woman off her, but whatever she was doing was taking effect as her struggling stopped and her eyes rolled back as her body thrashed then went still. The woman sitting on Tsunade's busty chest reared back and laughed sinisterly and Inoichi gasped when his eyes finally registered to his brain just who the woman was.

"H-Hinata?!"

The lost Hyuga heiress slowly turned her head, flashing rows of bloody fangs as she smiled demonically. Her crimson eyes gazed at him with a hypnotic stare and started to feel something start to try invading his mind. It almost penetrated his defenses but he was a master of his craft and managed to push away the influence, if somewhat painfully.

"Hmm, I should have guessed that the head of the Yamanaka clan could block me," Hinata mused as she pushed off the still body of the Godaime.

He wanted to ask what was going on, what had happened to Hiashi's daughter, but his instincts told him he had to get far away from her. She radiated with an evilness and cruelty he never would have imagine coming from the shy, somewhat meek girl. He knew he had to get Hiashi away before he saw his daughter, not wishing for him to fall victim as Tsume had to her own. Quickly, he turned his back and bolted for the hole, grabbing Hiashi by his robes and dragging him through with him.

The two men clashed into the other room and by some miracle, none of the creatures had yet to chase after them through the hole. Inoichi forced himself from the floor, his hand still holding a death-grip on Hiashi's robe, pulled the man up with him.

"We have to go! We have to warn as many people as we can!" Inoichi said.

Hiashi was somewhat dazed and only nodded as he was yanked to his feet and did his best to run with the blonde man. Fueled by fear and adrenaline, the two men used as much chakra to pump into their legs to get as far away as possible. From the hole, Hinata just smiled as she watched her father and Ino's flee. She mused for a moment if she should deal with them, but then changed her mind as the two men had reached outside to the sunlight. She had her prize and soon she would have the whole village now that its leader and most of the clan heads were disposed of. This attack had been reckless and she had originally planned to attack them each individually in their sleep, as she had her friends, but their plans to keep her Naruto from her conflicted with everything. It was wise for her to have tunnels everywhere, including underneath the council room. She had positioned all her thralls at these vital points and they reached out to her mind whenever something of interest came up. This meeting, being the most sufficient. She would have to find a way to reward Kakashi for his excellent work on keeping taps on everyone in the Hokage's tower…maybe give him Anko or even Kurenai for a few evenings, but only until after she's had her own fun with two of her new favorite toys.

It was only a matter of time now. The whole village will be under her control, and her thralls had been so patient and loyal, so she would let them have their fun and be set loose and do as the pleased with the rest of Konoha once nightfall came.

She walked over to still body of Tsunade and elegantly sat down next to it. She reached down and stroked one of the long ponytails and giggled gleefully. She had everyone she needed now. The village would fall under her rule and soon she could begin preparing the best welcome home celebration for the man she had longed for.

"Mmm, what a party it's going to be…my Naruto-kun," Hinata hummed to herself as she ignored the gory violence still carrying out all over the chamber, splattering its once pristine walls with blood and more.

**xXx**


End file.
